Toyota Motors has stopped selling and producing cars in Russia. The Japanese carmaker has halted production due to difficulties in supplying car manufacturing materials and parts to the country due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Toyota was also the first Japanese company to close its business in Russia due to the war. This information was revealed in a report published by Nikkei Asia.
Toyota’s Chief Communications Officer Jun Nagata said it was a difficult decision at a press conference. We will not sell our unit in Russia to any other company. However, the repair operation of cars sold earlier in the country will continue. Japan’s top carmaker said in a statement that it had suspended operations at its factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, since March 4. Even after six months of the war, we could not resume normal activities there. And there was no indication of a future relaunch. The risk of increasing regional geopolitical changes also played a role in this decision. Despite suspending production in March, Toyota Motors continued to pay workers through redeployment and maintenance in other sectors. The company also said that the decision to stop the production activities were taken after helping the affected workers to find new employment.
Meanwhile, citing the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the news agency Tas reported that Toyota will fulfill its social responsibility towards its workers and pay compensation. According to the report, the market share of Toyota was higher than that of other Japanese automakers in Russia. In addition to producing 80 thousand cars, the company will sell 1 lakh to 10 thousand vehicles in the country in 2021. Toyota Motors started manufacturing cars in St. Petersburg in 2007.
Meanwhile, according to data from Yale University in the United States, more than 1,000 companies have announced plans to reduce their production activities in Russia after the Russia-Ukraine war in February this year. At the same time, Nissan Motors has extended the production period of the factory located in St. Petersburg till December this year.
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